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Durability of self-healing dental composites: A comparison of performance under monotonic and cyclic loading
Mobin Yahyazadehfar1, George Huyang2, Xiaohong Wang2
1Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA.
Abstract:
Durability is an important quality of dental restorative materials, and the ability to autonomously heal damage incurred during their oral function is highly desirable.
Objective:
The objective was to evaluate the improvement in durability of self-healing dental composites (SHDCs) in terms of their resistance to fracture and capacity for healing of damage under monotonic and cyclic loading.
Methods:
SHDCs were prepared by incorporating dental resin composites with microcapsules containing healing liquid. Control specimens with the same mass fraction (5% and 25%) of microcapsules filled with water were also evaluated. Two sets of SHDCs were distinguished by the silane coupling agents that functionalized and bonded the microcapsules to resin network. One set used a methacrylate silane (MA-silane) that connected resin network through covalent bonds, and the other used a H-bonding forming hydroxyl silane (OH-silane). The fatigue crack growth resistance was assessed in terms of the threshold stress intensity range and the conventional Paris Law parameters. Cyclic loading was conducted at 5 Hz with maximum cyclic load ranged between approximately 1 N and 5 N. The efficiency of the autonomous healing was determined per the recovering of the fracture toughness and the extension of fatigue life.
Results:
The SHDCs with 5 wt% of healing microcapsules exhibited a larger fracture toughness than those with 25 wt% microcapsules. MA-silane SHDCs had approximately five times more responsive microcapsules triggered by fracturing of the composites. Consequently, the MA-silane SHDCs with 5 wt% of microcapsules achieved the best performance in terms of fracture toughness and healing efficiency. In regards to the fatigue crack growth behavior, there was a significant increase in the resistance to fatigue crack growth and 580 ± 15% improvement in the fatigue life.
Significance:
Strong silanization is vital in SHDCs to simultaneously achieve clinically applicable mechanical performance and substantial healing capability. Moreover, the evaluation of self-healing under cyclic loading is a promising tool in quantifying the degree of fracture-induced healing.
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